‘They’re Really Trying to Recruit Me Hard’: Georgia Commit Jaylen Heyward Talks Miami Pursuit, Recent UM Visit

Highly ranked class of 2024 safety Jaylen Heyward has been committed to Georgia since January, but that hasn’t stopped schools like Auburn and Miami from continuing their recruiting pursuit.

Heyward recently made an unofficial visit to UM on Saturday, May 13. This was his second Miami visit in two months.

“I enjoyed it because I learned about people at the University of Miami on a personal level,” Heyward told LifeWallet Sports.

The 5-foot-11 defensive back has an official visit to Miami lined up for June 23-25.

The Hurricanes have used proximity in their recruiting pitch to Heyward, who attends Rockledge (Fla.) High School, which is just over a three-hour drive from Miami’s campus.

“They’re telling me they want me to stay home. They want to bring the crib back to how it was with Ray Lewis and Sean Taylor and everyone,” Heyward said. “They’re really trying to recruit me hard and trying to make me stay home.”

Heyward made an unofficial visit to Auburn on March 17, which he said “was good. I built a good relationship with the coaching staff, and I feel it’s gonna be better over the next couple of months.”

Still, Georgia has remained the school to beat in Heyward’s recruitment, partly because of the relationships the rising senior has formed with numerous coaches on the Bulldogs’ staff.

“I fell in love with [Georgia] because of [head] coach Kirby Smart and [defensive backs] coach Fran Brown and [co-defensive coordinator] Will Muschamp, he recruited me the hardest out of everyone at the University of Georgia, and I built a real solid relationship with him.”